The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has stripped its three senior officers of their current duties, for their role in the ‘FORCE’ controversy. They have been accused of violating service rules in authoring a policy document titled ‘FORCE’, which gave suggestions to the government for raising additional revenue to deal with the corona pandemic.
CBDT has charge sheeted these officers, two of whom are linked with the IRS Association for violating the service rules in making the report by junior officers and putting the same in public domain. The report had suggested a higher tax rate and wealth tax for the rich, and levying of 4% COVID-19 cess.
According to sources, the board feels that the report caused panic and policy uncertainty.
The government had also taken a serious view of the report being made public, and asked the CBDT to take suitable action against the officers concerned.
